FORT COLLINS, Colo. -- Eugene Tafoya testified Wednesday he went to the apartment of a dissident Libyan student in 1980 believing he was delivering a message from the CIA, and he shot the Libyan in self-defense.
The former Green Beret, who is charged with attempted murder and conspiracy, said while 'working' for the CIA he primarily took orders from former CIA agent Edwin Wilson in Libya, did some 'spying' and carried information for Wilson throughout Europe and northern Africa.
Wilson and another former CIA agent, Francis Terpil, were indicted in Washington, D.C. last year on charges of conspiracy to commit murder and illegally shipping explosives and munitions to Libya.
The CIA has denied Tafoya was ever an employee.
Tafoya, 47, was called to the stand by his attorneys to rebut prosecution allegations that he was hired to kill Faisal Zagallai, a vocal opponent of the Libyan regime of Col. Moammar Khadafy.
Zagallai, then a graduate student at Colorado State University, was shot twice in the head at his apartment Oct. 14, 1980. He lost sight in one eye as a result of the wounds.
Tafoya, of Truth or Consequences, N.M., testified he applied for a job with the CIA in 1976 shortly after his discharge from Special Forces. He said he did not hear anything until 1979, when he was contacted by two men who showed him CIA credentials.
One of the men, whom he knew only as John, later called and told him to go to Libya, Tafoya said.
Tafoya said he never trained troops, instead acting as a 'go-fer' by doing vehicle maintenance and carrying 'papers' for Wilson to such places as London, Paris, Zurich, Malta, Rome, Geneva and Tunisia.
Tafoya said he reported to John, not to Wilson, although he was paid by both men.
In September 1980, he said, he was on a mission for Wilson to London when he received a message from John that Zagallai was involved 'upsetting detente between Egypt and Israel by making broadcasts and preparation of other propaganda.'
Tafoya said he later received a call from John, telling him to contact Zagallai in Fort Collins and tell him 'to knock off of the broadcast or whatever he was doing.'
Tafoya said when he went to the Libyan's apartment under the cover of a supposed job interview, he wore a .22-caliber pistol in a holster.
'Now that I look back on it, it was really stupid,' he said. 'But being that narcotics were involved and possible weapons, I thought it was the thing to do.'
Tafoya said he chatted with Zagallai for 10 minutes, then told him: ''You have been making and preparing broadcasts to the Middle East about things that are upsetting detente.'
'He got the message and just erupted. He started yelling and everything broke loose before I finished. He was yelling in Arabic. I tried to calm him down but he just kept yelling and I heard glass breaking and his wife yelling in another room.'
Tafoya said he saw Zagallai pull a pistol out from under a cushion of the couch. The two men struggled, Tafoya's gun went off an Zagallai fell to the floor, the defendant said.
The men talked to him about doing some 'work' for them, Tafoya said, and then departed. One of the men, whom he knew only as John, called him later and told him to go to Libya, Tafoya said.
Tafoya said he was told he would work under Wilson in Libya.
'My understanding was that I would be working to train troops there,' Tafoya said. 'It was very basic training. I thought I was working for the CIA.'
Tafoya said he never trained troops, instead acting as a 'gopher' by doing vehicle maintenance and carrying 'papers' for Wilson to such places as London, Paris, Zurich, Malta, Rome, Geneva and Tunisia. He said he also did some 'spying,' which he described as general observations.
Tafoya said he reported to John, and not to Wilson, although he was paid by both men. He said Wilson paid him $8,000 as partial payment and that money was placed in his account in New Mexico.
In September 1980, he said, he was on a mission for Wilson to London and received a message from John referring to Faisal Zagallai.
The message said Zagallai was involved in activities which were 'upsetting detente between Egypt and Israel by making broadcasts and preparation of other propaganda,' Tafoya said. The message also said there was a coalition of Iranian and Libyan students selling heroin and using the money to buy weapons and supplies for the Palestinian Liberation Organization, he said.
Tafoya testified he later received a call from John, telling him to contact Zagallai in Fort Collins and tell him 'to knock off of the broadcast or whatever he was doing.'
Tafoya went to Fort Collins, where he stayed in a hotel under his own name, and received another call from John the night before the shooting.
John said an appointment with Zagallai had been arranged at the Libyan's apartment the next night, Tafoya said. He said he was told to use the cover of a job interviewer.
He wore a .22-caliber pistol in a holster to the interview, Tafoya said. 'Now that I look back on it, it was really stupid,' he said. 'But being that narcotics were involved and possible weapons, I thought it was the thing to do.'
Tafoya said he chatted with Zagallai and his wife in the apartment about 10 minutes and then Mrs. Zagallai left the room to get soft drinks. It was then that he mentioned his purpose to Zagallai, Tafoya said.
He said he told Zagallai: ''You have been making and preparing broadcasts to the Middle East about things that are upsetting detente.'
'He got the message and just erupted. He started yelling and everything broke loose before I finished. He was yelling in Arabic. I tried to calm him down but he just kept yelling and I heard glass breaking and his wife yelling in another room.'
Tafoya said he saw Zagallai pull a pistol out from under a cushion of the couch. He said he and Zagallai both stood up, he grabbed Zagallai's right hand with the gun in it and hit Zagallai on the head.
Zagallai's gun fell to the floor and the Libyan grabbed for Tafoya's holstered gun, Tafoya said. Tafoya said he pulled the gun back, opened the door of the apartment and tried to run out.
'He grabbed me from the back and pulled me back in,' Tafoya said.
Tafoya said he thought Zagallai may have picked up his own gun from the floor and he continued to struggle with Zagallai. He said his gun went off during the struggle.
After Zagallai fell to the floor, Tafoya said he picked up his notebook and eyeglasses and left. He said he drove to a ditch and threw his gun away.
Under cross-examination, Tafoya was asked why investigatorsfound plentiful information at his New Mexico home about ways to contact Wilson, but could find nothing showing how to reach John.
'John contacted me,' Tafoya replied. 'I never contacted him.'
Tafoya said he went to Fort Collins with his wife Oct. 9, 1981 and spent two days there. He said he spent his time trying to verify the information in the message he received from London and then went with his wife to visit friends in Broomfield, Colo.
He spent three days at Broomfield, and then received the call from John about his appointment with Zagallai.
Tafoya also said under cross-examination that Fort Collins Police Det. Ray Martinez was mistaken about conversations the two had after Tafoya's arrest. Martinez earlier testified Tafoya told him he was supposed to 'rough up' Zagallai and tell him to quit making statements about Khadafi.
Tafoya said after the shooting he drove to Denver, turned in his rental car and called his wife to pick him up. He then went to Albuquerque and his wife to Truth or Consequences, he said.
Tafoya said he went to London Oct. 17, stayed two or three days and then went to Belgium.
'About Dec. 1 I got my visa and went to Libya,' he said. Tafoya said he spent about three months in Libya, until a short time before he was arrested at his home.
At the end of the days' testimony, Judge Miller recessed the trial until Monday. Tafoya will continue on the stand at that time, with the possibility that closing arguments might be later in the day.
